I submit my framing and design to you for approval...

[762]

Hello! Never framed anything before so I want to make sure things are up to snuff before I order materials. Please let me know if anything is underbuilt...or overbuilt! I'll gladly swap a 2x6 headers for 2x4s if that's sufficient. Also same with rafters.

Height of the base is 3' and overall footprint is 12x12'. Front elevation is 8' (plus 3' base) and rear is 5', roof pitch is 3/12.

Main concern is the base...is it strong enough for this structure? Those are 4x4s and 2x6s for the base and 2x4s for the joists.

Blue/gray color are windows...all will be hardware clothed and open until it gets cold. Rear will have windows and drop door similar to how Carolina Coops do it. In red is an area I might not side over and leave open for ventilation. Would that be superior to not blocking the rear rafters? I could just leave those open for ventilation instead.

On the front, I will block the rafters to prevent blown rain from getting in too badly. The covered run will butt up against the front just above the very top windows, which will probably always be open since the roof from the run will be there to block rain.

Big opening on the sides is where the laying hutches will go. On the roof, how far do I need to space purlins if I don't use sheathing?

Thanks all!!

 

[762]

That was my question. I'm a big fan of raised coops too. But you MUST have access to every corner of it. An access for on every wall as big as yours is.
Mine is small 6 × 5. access doors south and north sides.

Top two rear doors open and door below is drop down, providing a 4' tall opening to enter. Ceiling is low on the back side (just over 5') but quickly rises to be able to stand in. Ground is on a slope so the downhill side will be 3' high, uphill side will be 2' high. Entering and being able to access all corners won't be a problem.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I'm sorry I'm confused. People on this tread seem to be criticizing 2 things. #1 they are critical of the fact the coop is raised off the ground. 90% of all the coops I've looked at on the internet are raised. #2 They are critical of the fact that a grown human cannot stand up in the coop that is designed for 15" tall birds. Again 90% of the coops I see on the internet are less than 5 feet tall on the inside.

If I have to crawl around on my hands and knees every once and a while to retrieve an egg or sick bird then so be it.

As far as the raised coop, my birds are confined to a run only because of excess predators so that small space under the coop is a bonus for the ladies to hang out and get away from the hot sun.

These are just my opinions, please don't attack.

762 I love your plans keep building exactly as you have drawn in your plans I look forward to seeing the completed project.

That says more about the internet than the practicality of a raised coop design. and if you read how many birds thos raised coops were supposed to be suitable for, you'd have reason to pause before swallowing the rest of what they are dishing out.

Fact is, most of what you see on the internet, and to some extent, on the side of the road at those portable building places, is sheds built by shed builders based on what they think a chicken needs, and based on what people who have never owned chickens think is attractive. Even the "amish-style" coops have obvious flaws to those of us who have had chickens for a while. Those flaws (for modern man) weren't necessarily flaws then - we have access to hinges that make certain designs much more practical, while they would simply use a removable lid - and thus the modern "amish" coops with a hinge where the nesting box meets the wall, rather than on the face of the nesting box itself.

As well, many of the older coop designs were intended for a compoletely different style of management than that practiced by modern keepers. The Amish, the PA Dutch, and others using similar off the ground coops used them solely as a place birds could escape the weather - otherwise, they ranged. For many modern keepers, their birds must be contained at all times, and the deficiencies in the coop (particularly ventilation) become much more obvious. Same with nesting boxes the same height as the floor or the roosting bars - reveals an ignorance of chicken behaviors. Or with very attractive, aesthetically pleasing windows which direct drafts onto roosting birds and (less commonly) light into nesting boxes...

But hey, if what you see most on the internet is how you judge knowledge... There's some very creative "math" on Facebook masquerading as economics. Let us know how that works out for you.

/edit and for very small coops with access all around them, getting under a coop for cleaning etc is pretty easy with a rake or other long tool. As the coop grows in size, or sides get blocked off by the walls on enclosed runs, etc, that access tends to become increasing difficult to manage.

 

[Acre4Me]

Nice plans. We built a coop that is intended for temporary “flocks” like meat chickens or turkeys, and can be used for storage of garden items in winter, or to separate out a breeding group. It can be divided in half (so two doors) or used as one. It is 5’ tall in back, and taller in front. It is nearly all wire, but we use clear panels for wind/water deflection on portions of it. It is over engineered.

We also have an elevated main coop, which is great. It is about 2.5’ elevated, providing awesome shade in the hot months.

 

[3KillerBs]

I'm sorry I'm confused. People on this tread seem to be criticizing 2 things. #1 they are critical of the fact the coop is raised off the ground. 90% of all the coops I've looked at on the internet are raised. #2 They are critical of the fact that a grown human cannot stand up in the coop that is designed for 15" tall birds. Again 90% of the coops I see on the internet are less than 5 feet tall on the inside.

If I have to crawl around on my hands and knees every once and a while to retrieve an egg or sick bird then so be it.

As far as the raised coop, my birds are confined to a run only because of excess predators so that small space under the coop is a bonus for the ladies to hang out and get away from the hot sun.

These are just my opinions, please don't attack.

762 I love your plans keep building exactly as you have drawn in your plans I look forward to seeing the completed project.

My Little Monitor Coop was raised specifically because I was fitting it into a tight suburban yard. I can't touch the back wall no matter how far I lean into the access door -- though my 6-foot son can.

It's former attached run was only 4 feet high to save on wire. We thought we were being clever making it possible for the run to come off and be dragged free for cleaning.That feature was completely impractical. We only tried once. Cleaning was a matter of hunchbacked torture for the rest of the life of that run. Retrieving an egg laid under the coop required running a bath, sending a small child in with a hoe to pull the egg out, then bathing said small child (now grown into said 6-foot son).

I'm 58 now and my big, Open Air coop was designed for me to be able to clean and tend it while standing upright because my arthritis doesn't like hunching and crawling. (Coop page in progress. It can be seen here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hot-climate-chicken-housing-and-care.77263/ )

We try to pass on these lessons so that others can learn from our mistakes.

 

[NatJ]

I have thought about the height...the reason for it is that I am trying to use a single piece of 4x8' siding to fill vertical space whilst keeping a 3/12 pitch. Trying to waste as little as possible.

I've had coops that were too short, and ones that were tall enough to work in easily. For me, it makes an enormous difference. It's not just my head, but also the handle of my rake or shovel at cleaning time. The chickens probably don't care, but I strongly suspect you will. But it's your coop, so ultimately your decision.

I am 6'1"

With that height, plus intending to use deep litter, I would aim for 8 feet on the low side, which also tends to make efficient use of materials. (So no increase in waste, although it does increase the total amount of materials used. Or adjust to 7 or 9 feet, depending on how it fits with the roof slant.)

I would plan on just parting the red sea of litter with a hard rake at the door every time I have to enter. But I'm not keeping feed or water in the coop itself, and we will be doing deep litter method with hemp bedding, so regular cleanout won't be a thing.

Do you have any experience with chickens and litter? I don't think "parting the litter with a rake" is going to be very feasible.

I agree that deep litter needs less frequent cleaning, but when you do clean it, there is a large amount of material to move. It's a big job anyway, but working bent over makes it much worse.

 

[mowin]

These are just my opinions, please don't attack.

Isn't that what you just did?

I'll never have a raised coop. I don't want to get on my hands and knees to retrieve a egg or injured bird. So I eliminate that possibly. I don't want to smash my head on a 2x4 rafter, or hunch over to retrieve eggs or clean the coop, so I eliminated those issues.

I build my coops for my convenience, and to make my life easier tending to the chickens.

 

[aart]

I now see that it's more about the chicken keepers convenience and maybe not what is good for the birds.

Being able to easily take care of the coop and the birds inside is good for the keeper and the birds.

My coop is both raised and walk in, but it was an existing shed.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I have an 8x12 coop, raised 3' off the ground (I have ducks) and even though I can walk into it (trust me, its odd, I have a "U shaped" raised floor, with a full height door at the "open end" of the U), it is still inconvenient to get the back corners, or to crawl under when the ducks lay in an inconvenient place. If the undernath drops to 2' on one end, that's quite low. Nor would I want to stoop in a raised 12x12 for any period of time.

Your sketch up work is excellent, and you HAVE overbuilt. Additionally, you've assumed straight 4x4s. Not at my lumber yard, haven't been any for years. Suggest you google "California Corners". That's built like a people house. 24" oC is fine for walls in a coop unless there are extreme wind loads you are attempting to engineer for?

As drafted, you may find panelling this section to prove challenging, as well, depending on total height, and your choice of siding.

 

[Raptor Chicken]

I agree with the posters against raised coops for obvious reasons.

When I started on our coop build my wife wanted to be able to have a walk in set up. Being that I would inevitably end up being in it at some point I built it as such.

We're in the finishing stages but this is a good visual for where we're at.

I considered a raised coop during my design phase and am glad I went the route we did.